Hammacher Schlemmer releases a glasses free 3D tablet just in time for the 2013 holiday season. The auto-stereo tablet is available via the Hammacher Schlemmer website for $349.00. The company websites states that it is the only glasses free 3D tablet currently available on the market. Specs include an 8” screen, 16 GB of internal storage
Well, we’re not sure if the Hammacher Schlemmer’s 3D tablet is the only one on the market. NEO3DO was released earlier this year and it’s also a glasses free 3D tablet. The NEO3DO was initially launched on the crowd funding website Kickstarter. There are actually a few glasses free 3D tablets currently on the market another 3D tablet is the Commander3D.
Anyway keep them coming we love 3D!
A quick flashback to December 2009 and a little film called Avatar that sort of started the current 3D movement.
James Cameron’s ground breaking 3D movie Avatar released in late 2009 was a game changer for the entire film and electronics industry. After the films release it seemed that just about every other movie was deceptively advertised as the next great 3D movie. Not far behind television manufactures also jumped on the 3D bandwagon and trailing slightly behind them were manufactures of portable devices claiming their 3D device was The Future of Entertainment®. LG released a 3D smart phone the LG Optimus 3D, which I actually purchased for my son but soon returned the device due to eyestrain and cross-talk and blurry 3D images.
As early as 2011 and 2012 a few manufactures hit the scene at events like the 2011-2012 CES and various 3D conferences displaying prototypes of their version of glasses-free 3D. One company which I actually contacted about a month ago to do a follow up with their release of glasses-free 3D devices was MasterImage. MasterImage did not respond to our request for an interview. I saw MasterImages glasses free 3D tablet and smartphone prototypes; the images were good but not great.
Some of the other glasses free 3D devices that I have seen including Nintendo’s 3DS have very limited viewing angles. The 3DS works great and it’s a lot of fun when your viewing position is dead center but viewing at an angle the image becomes blurry.Dolby is another company entering the auto-stereo market with very positive response from reviewers including myself. Dolby known to most as a premium audio company has also been in the display business for many years. Dolby partnered with Phillips and is currently licensening their version of glasses free 3D to various non disclosed manufactures (as of this printing) which can be embedded into numerous devices including smart phones, tablets, televisions, and computer screens.
I was on hand and had the opportunity to test out their prototype; I have to say it was pretty impressive. I had a very difficult time finding a bad angle while watching viewing their glasses free 3D content. The only flaw I have to say is that the image was a little flat…but definitely a game changer.
If Hammacher Schlemmer licensed their glasses free 3D technology from Dolby I definitely purchase one.
By: Steven D. Ito
Source: Hammacher Schlemmer, Dolby, NEO3DO